CP Violation in Heavy Neutrino Mediated e−e−→W−W−e^- e^- \to W^- W^-

We consider the reaction $e^- e^- \rightarrow W^- W^-$ mediated by possible heavy neutrino exchange at future LINAC energies of $\sqrt{s}>> 2 m_W$. This reaction is sensitive to CP phases of the neutrino mixing matrices, even at the level of Born amplitudes. Certain integrated cross-sections are shown to have the power to resolve the CP phases when the experimental configurations are varied. Asymmetries sensitive to CP violation (involving initial QED phases) for $e^- e^-$ and $e^+ e^+$ reactions are constructed and their consequences considered.Comment: 9 pages plain Latex and 4 figures available separately as uuencoded figure

Glutathione-Mediated Neuroprotection Against Methylmercury Neurotoxicity in Cortical Culture is Dependent on MRP1

Methylmercury (MeHg) exposure at high concentrations poses significant neurotoxic threat to humans worldwide. The present study investigated the mechanisms of glutathione-mediated attenuation of MeHg neurotoxicity in primary cortical culture. MeHg (5 μM) caused depletion of mono- and disulfide glutathione in neuronal, glial and mixed cultures. Supplementation with exogenous glutathione, specifically glutathione monoethyl ester (GSHME) protected against the MeHg induced neuronal death. MeHg caused increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation measured by dichlorodihydrofluorescein (DCF) fluorescence with an early increase at 30 min and a late increase at 6 h. This oxidative stress was prevented by the presence of either GSHME or the free radical scavenger, trolox. While trolox was capable of quenching the ROS, it showed no neuroprotection. Exposure to MeHg at subtoxic concentrations (3 μM) caused an increase in system xc− mediated 14C-cystine uptake that was blocked by the protein synthesis inhibitor, cycloheximide (CHX). Interestingly, blockade of the early ROS burst prevented the functional upregulation of system xc−. Inhibition of multidrug resistance protein-1 (MRP1) potentiated MeHg neurotoxicity and increased cellular MeHg. Taken together, these data suggest glutathione offers neuroprotection against MeHg toxicity in a manner dependent on MRP1-mediated efflux

Weak dipole moment of τ\tau in e+e−e^+e^- collisions with longitudinally polarized electrons

It is pointed out that certain CP-odd momentum correlations in the production and subsequent decay of tau pairs in $e^+e^-$ collisions get enhanced when the $e^-$ is longitudinally polarized. Analytic expressions for these correlations are obtained for the single-pion decay mode of $\tau$ when $\tau^+\tau^-$ have a ``weak" dipole form factor (WDFF) coupling to $Z$ . For $e^+e^-$ collisions at the $Z$ peak, a sensitivity of about 1-5$\times 10^{-17}$\mbox{$e$ cm} for the $\tau$ WDFF can be reached using a {\em single} $\tau^+\tau^-$ decay channel, with $10^6\, Z$'s likely to be available at the SLC at Stanford with $e^-$ polarization of 62\%-75\%.Comment: 9 pages, Latex, PRL-TH-93/17 (Revised

Measurement of the τ\tau electric dipole moment using longitudinal polarization of e+e−e^+e^- beams

Certain CP-odd momentum correlations in the production and subsequent decay of $\tau$ pairs in $e^+ e^-$ collisions are enhanced significantly when the $e^+$ and $e^-$ beams are longitudinally polarized. These may be used to probe the real and imaginary parts of $d_\tau^\gamma$, the electric dipole moment of the $\tau$. Closed-form expressions for these ``vector correlations'' and the standard deviation of the operators defining them due to standard model interactions are presented for the two-body final states of $\tau$ decays. If 42\% average polarization of each beam is achieved, as proposed for the tau-charm factories, with equal integrated luminosities for each sign of polarization and a total yield of $2\cdot 10^7$ $\tau^+ \tau^-$ pairs, it is possible to attain sensitivities for $\vert\delta {\rm Re} d_{\tau}^{\gamma}\vert$ of $8\cdot 10^{-19}$, $1\cdot 10^{-19}$, $1\cdot 10^{-19}$ $e$ cm respectively and for $\vert\delta {\rm Im} d_{\tau}^{\gamma}\vert$ of $4\cdot 10^{-14}$, $6\cdot 10^{-15}$, $5\cdot 10^{-16}$ $e$ cm respectively at the three operating center-of-mass energies of 3.67, 4.25 and 10.58 GeV. These bounds emerge when the effects of a posible weak dipole form factor $d_\tau^Z$ are negligible as is the case when it is of the same order of magnitude as $d_\tau^\gamma$. Furthermore, in such a polarization experiment where different polarizations are possible, a model-independent disentangling of their individual effects is possible, and a technique to achieve this is described. A strong longitudinal polarization physics programme at the tau-charm factory appears warranted.Comment: 30 pages, latex, no figure

Vector magnetic field microscopy using nitrogen vacancy centers in diamond

The localized spin triplet ground state of a nitrogen vacancy (NV) center in diamond can be used in atomic-scale detection of local magnetic fields. Here we present a technique using these defects in diamond to image fields around magnetic structures. We extract the local magnetic field vector by probing resonant transitions of the four fixed tetrahedral NV orientations. In combination with confocal microscopy techniques, we construct a 2-dimensional image of the local magnetic field vectors. Measurements are done in external fields less than 50 G and under ambient conditions.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figure

The Blazhko behaviour of RR Geminorum I - CCD photometric results in 2004

Extended CCD monitoring of RR Gem revealed that it is a Blazhko type RRab star with the shortest Blazhko period (7.23d) and smallest modulation amplitude (Delta Mmax<0.1 mag) currently known. The short period of the modulation cycle enabled us to obtain complete phase coverage of the pulsation at each phase of the modulation. This is the first multicolour observation of a Blazhko star which is extended enough to define accurate mean magnitudes and colours of the variable at different Blazhko phases. Small, but real, changes in the intensity mean colours at different Blazhko phases have been detected. The Fourier analysis of the light curves shows that, in spite of the mmag and smaller order of the amplitudes, the triplet structure is noticeable up to about the 14th harmonic. The modulation is concentrated to a very narrow, 0.2 phase range of the pulsation, centred on the supposed onset of the H emission during rising light. These observational results raise further complications for theoretical explanation of the long known but poorly understood Blazhko phenomenon.Comment: 10 pages, 12 figures, 3 tables. Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysic

Random walks with long-range steps generated by functions of Laplacian matrices

In this paper, we explore different Markovian random walk strategies on networks with transition probabilities between nodes defined in terms of functions of the Laplacian matrix. We generalize random walk strategies with local information in the Laplacian matrix, that describes the connections of a network, to a dynamics determined by functions of this matrix. The resulting processes are non-local allowing transitions of the random walker from one node to nodes beyond its nearest neighbors. We find that only two types of Laplacian functions are admissible with distinct behaviors for long-range steps in the infinite network limit: type (i) functions generate Brownian motions, type (ii) functions L\'evy flights. For this asymptotic long-range step behavior only the lowest non-vanishing order of the Laplacian function is relevant, namely first order for type (i), and fractional order for type (ii) functions. In the first part, we discuss spectral properties of the Laplacian matrix and a series of relations that are maintained by a particular type of functions that allow to define random walks on any type of undirected connected networks. Once described general properties, we explore characteristics of random walk strategies that emerge from particular cases with functions defined in terms of exponentials, logarithms and powers of the Laplacian as well as relations of these dynamics with non-local strategies like L\'evy flights and fractional transport. Finally, we analyze the global capacity of these random walk strategies to explore networks like lattices and trees and different types of random and complex networks.Comment: 33 pages, 5 figure